The disturbing extent of gun crime in London was revealed today, as new figures showed criminals have fired a weapon on nearly 1,400 occasions in the capital during the past three and a half years.

The Met Police statistics show 29 people died as a result of the shootings, and 760 sustained injuries ranging from “minor” damage to potentially life-changing wounds. The firing peaked in 2011 — the year of the London riots — when 532 shots were fired by offenders, killing 12 people and injuring 302 more.

I am a journalist and author. I am a staff writer at the UK edition of WIRED magazine and in 2015 my book, Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. I created FOI Directory in 2012.